Early introduction of oral paricalcitol in renal transplant recipients.

In stable renal transplant recipients with hyperparathyroidism, the vitamin D agonist paricalcitol reduces the level of proteinuria. Animal studies have indicated possible anti-fibrotic and anti-inflammatory effects of paricalcitol. We hypothesised that early introduction of paricalcitol in de novo renal transplant recipients would reduce proteinuria and counteract development of fibrosis in the allograft. A single centre, prospective, randomized, open label trial investigating the additional effect of paricalcitol 2ug/day to standard care was performed. Participants were included 8 weeks after engraftment irrespective of PTH-level and followed for 44 weeks. Microarray analyses were performed in kidney biopsies at study end for the investigation of potential effects on gene expression profile.